n

Saturday, May 7, 2016

HONOUR TO WHOM IT IS DUE.

Mother's Day is here again. No doubt, this weekend we will
hear and read a lot about the role of mothers in the home, church and society.

Churches especially will be rife with admonitions to
mothers to wake up and not shirk in their mothering responsibilities to the
next generation in particular.

That is perfectly in order if you ask me.

The need for what I call 'Model Mothers' in these days
cannot be over flogged. It cannot be said enough that 'the hand that rocks the
cradle rules the world.'

My focus in this piece however is slightly off the
epicenter of focus this season.

I came across a verse of scripture that struck a chord in
me.

1 Kings 2:19

19 Bathsheba therefore went unto king Solomon, to speak
unto him for Adonijah. And the king rose up to meet her, and bowed himself unto
her, and sat down on his throne, and caused a seat to be set for the king's
mother; and she sat on his right hand.

A lot of events had gone down before this verse and even
after. Many of them unpleasant.

But then we see Bathsheba, King Solomon's mother seeking
her son's audience one day in his palace. Upon sighting his mother, King
Solomon did the following:

- He rose for his mother

- He bowed to her

- He called for a seat to be put on his right hand for her

-He gave her audience.

These were not just random acts. They were deliberate acts
on the part of a highly placed man who did not refrain from according his
parent the honour due to her. He chose to sit her on his right hand next to his
throne, a place of honour and dignity.

Well, what am I driving at here?

Many of us probably do not consider our mothers deserving
of much regard probably because of how they conceived us or how they raised us.
They probably did a not-too-pleasant job of raising us, being there for us
etc.

If anyone had an excuse for being condescending towards
his mother, it was Solomon. Do you recall that he was born out of an adulterous
affair which even led to the death of an innocent man? The upheaval that
resulted from that act of indiscretion by his mum was gigantic in proportion to
say the least!

Yet, at his peak of achievement and influence he still
honored his mother.

See, no matter what your mother did or did not do, she
deserves your honour.

This is a clear biblical injunction that we must heed:

Ephesians 6:2&3

2 Honour thy father and mother; (which is the first
commandment with promise;

3 That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long
on the earth.

Honoring our parents should not be dependent on how we
feel about them, it should be about doing as we are commanded by God so that it
may be well with us and that we may live long.

I concur at this point that there may be complicated,
not-so-straightforward issues involved in your own case.

Well then, how about you prayerfully take the first step
of obedience this Mother's Day by honoring your mum with the hope that that
forms the foundation for reconciliation or at least the very first steps
towards that.

Whatever you do however, see to it that you accord her the
honour due to her as God commanded not only today but always. To be sure,
honoring her does not mean doing as she pleases all the time or succumbing to
her every whim. It simply means choosing to show her deferential respect and
holding her in high esteem because God says to do so to the one through whom
you came into the world.

Call her, send her a text or an email, visit her, run an
errand or two for her, pray for her, wish her well, whatever!